Editorial: Reducing crime requires more than arrests

Sunday

Jul 29, 2018 at 2:01 AM

An uptick in crime shows the need for police to focus resources on the most serious problems — and the community to keep working on the social conditions that fuel crime.

Last Sunday, The Sun reported that crime in Gainesville increased about 13 percent overall in the first half of 2018. There were rises in violent offenses such as aggravated assault and robbery as well as property crimes including burglary and theft.

Most troubling is an increase in murders, with four fatal shootings happening through July 10 as compared to two murders in the same time frame last year. A new Gainesville Police Department team launched last month, which use data and criminal intelligence to identify areas for increased enforcement, sounds like a smart way to take a targeted approach to the problem.

GPD Chief Tony Jones told The Sun that the effort has a particular focus on children and has so far been successful at getting illegal weapons off the streets.

"We found one kid — 13 or 14 — with a loaded 9 mm in his pocket," he said.

The wide availability of guns is a national problem that makes it harder to deal with violent crime on a local level. Certainly efforts by area law enforcement agencies to better collaborate, as well as look at out-of-the-area connections to local crimes, make sense.

Alternatives to arrest for minor crimes and changes that help keep those crimes out of the criminal justice system allow more resources to be directed to violent crimes. The work of GPD and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to improve relationships with residents, particularly with young people, increases cooperation and trust.

Initiatives such as the Reichert House after-school program and Summer Heatwave program help keep at-risk youth out of trouble. But more must be done to ensure all residents — no matter their race, income level or neighborhood they live in —get the preparation in school and at home and have the economic opportunities to be able to succeed in life.

The Sun launched the Gainesville For All initiative nearly two years ago to help address racial and socioeconomic disparities in the community. It has now issued more than 50 recommendations that aim at systemic solutions to inequities involving crime, education, health, housing, jobs, families and transportation.

At a time when a declining unemployment rate and new development around town give the impression of wide prosperity, the reality is there are wide disparities that a University of Florida report showed are worse in Alachua County than in other places. Residents should heed Jones’ advice and take steps such as locking cars to prevent burglaries, but a long-term solution to reducing crime is far more complex.

Gainesville's best hope at preventing crime and the consequences for victims is smart policing combined with community support for changes that give struggling residents an equitable chance at improving their lives. As Chief Jones has long said, we aren't going to arrest our way out of our community's crime problems.

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